Congress Enacts
Child Safety Act

The Senate has passed H.R.
1216-the Cameron Gulbransen
Kids Transportation Safety Act of
2007. This bill passed the House
in December and is expected to
be signed into law by President
Bush.

The bill addresses three major
issues involving motor vehicles
and child safety and requires the
Secretary of Transportation to
prescribe or amend Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS)
to do the following:

Require power windows
and panels on motor vehicles
to automatically reverse
direction when they detect
an obstruction;

Expand the required field of
view to enable the driver of
a motor vehicle to detect
areas behind them to reduce
death and injury resulting
from backing incidents; and

Require each motor vehicle
with an automatic transmission
that includes a 'park'
position manufactured for
sale after September 1, 2010
be equipped with a system
that requires the service brake
to be depressed before the
transmission can be shifted
out of 'park.'

The act also requires the creation
of a database on injuries and
deaths of children in non-traffic,
non-crash events involving motor
vehicles.